IN LIGHT OF CLINT’S PENALTY HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE LEGALITY OF YOUR CARS AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT RCR’S REPUTATION?

“Well we…………and I am not going to spend a whole lot of time talking about this and if it’s okay I will say everything I want to say about it in one shot here.

We have a lot of belief at RCR about integrity and about doing things the right way and by no means did the 33 car go to the racetrack believing in any form or fashion that they would have any trouble with tech whatsoever. Like other teams, they had been warned the week before that, that NASCAR was telling them that they were really, really close to the tolerances with that car and so there was an effort put in so that there was no issue. And of course, there was an issue, so there is a circumstance there that is an odd circumstance and I’m obviously not questioning NASCAR’s measuring abilities because it’s pretty precise the way they do it but the intent was certainly to be 100% legal and to the point where it was very clear that car was going to the tech center so there is a circumstance that is odd there that Richard has made it pretty clear that he is going to appeal it and his grounds for appeal…….he has stated so that is what it is and its disappointing.

We feel 100% confident that we don’t have a problem with our cars based on the fact that we’ve not had a problem with our cars. Prior to the last two weeks there has been no issue and we just have to believe in our measurements and believe in what we know and what we have learned and it is what it is so it’s a very disappointing thing for the 33 and its made us all look very closely at what we are doing and certainly there is a cause for concern for the other two teams and certainly for the 33 as well but we believe we have the matter under control.”

ABOUT WHETHER ALL CARS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO THE TECH CENTER AFTER EACH RACE

“Well, the more cars they take to the tech center, the more cars are thoroughly looked at. That is not to say that I want to insinuate that I think there are a bunch of illegal cars running around out there. I don’t believe that. I believe that in this case there is something that happened during the race that changed. I know the work that went into that car to make sure that it was legal. There was a tremendous amount of effort after Richmond to make sure it was legal so something odd happened.

The more cars they take to the tech center, the more cars will be looked at in a more thorough fashion. I think a lot of fans don’t realize the difference between teching at the race track and teching at the tech center.

The inspection process here is as diligent as it can be but there is no way to measure the cars here the way they can measure them there. It’s just impossible so just so the fans understand, the first step in the inspection process happens here. And the final step, which is a more thorough view, happens there. And a lot of people are concerned as to how can a car pass tech pre and post race but not pass on Tuesday and people need to understand that the way that you can measure it at the tech center is completely different than the way that you can measure it here. And I feel there is a great deal of confusion about that.”

ABOUT HOW HARD THE ORGANIZATION HAS WORKED TO GET BACK TO THE TOP AND WHEN ONE CAR HAS AN ISSUE, DOES IT AFFECT MORAL BACK AT THE SHOP?

“Well we all work very well together, we work hard together and when a team is doing well or a team is having a problem, we have all done it together in one form or fashion so I am not standing here today to say that it’s a 33 problem or a 31 problem, it’s a RCR problem. And if it’s an RCR problem then we all need to pitch in together to fix it and it just is what it is. I just need to think that everyone needs to understand that everyone knew that car was going to the tech center. And there is no way that something intentionally would have been done to make that car illegal. You know what I mean? That is what is difficult about this situation.

And after they got close to the tolerances after Richmond, NASCAR……….the same way they did last year with the Hendrick cars you know when you start getting close and they start looking closer at you – which by the way they should. You know?

No one is questioning NASCAR’s ability to measure cars and no one is questioning the fact that they should measure cars. You know, when you start pushing the edge and they start looking at you close, they need to look at you closer. They are here to police the sport and so when you get real close, but you are still legal, they are going to start looking at you harder so Richard was aware that most likely they were going to take that car so it wasn’t a surprise that whether that car won the race or finished 30th it was going to the tech center.”

DO YOU AGREE WITH THE PRECEDENT THAT NASCAR DOES NOT TAKE AWAY WINS?

“I understand why it is and I understand why some people don’t agree with it and I understand why some people agree with it. They have always been consistent with it at this level, but they haven’t always been consistent with it at lower levels.

I had a win taken away from me in the Nationwide Series years ago. Won the race and was deemed illegal when the race was over and they did take the win away. But at this level they seemed to never have done that.

I think consistency is important and if NASCAR decides at some point if you are illegal and they are going to take the win away there needs to be an announcement about that. You know what I mean? At this point they just can’t jump up and say, ‘well, we will take the win away’, because they never have at this level so if they decide to change that policy then that would need to be done between years or would have to be done with an announcement like, ‘hey in the future we are going to…..’. It couldn’t just be a deal where they say ‘well, in this situation we are going to do that’, because that would be inconsistent with what they have done with every other car.”